Harper leaned back in her chair and closed out the letter she had been reading on her PADD. It had been a few months since she had received anything from anyone in her family and she was happy to hear from her mother. From what she gathered, things at home were going well and her mother was thinking of retiring soon. This made her smile. Her mother had worked hard and deserved it more than anyone. She pulled her PADD back out and started to prepare a message to send in return to her mother. She would encourage her in any way that she could.

As she was preparing her message, she began to hear music coming from somewhere down the hallway. She smiled and looked up. The crew was taking the time to celebrate the New Year, with her permission of course. Their last mission had been an extremely stressful and urgent situation and they had all handled it like seasoned professionals. They deserved to celebrate for a few hours at least before they had to head out to what ever came next for them. She looked back down to her PADD to resume working on her communication when she heard the familiar chime of the communication system.

“Captain, we are receiving an incoming hail from Starfleet command. Captain Theo Barrington is requesting to speak with you directly.” Communications officer, Hazel Whitlock reported.

“I’ll take it in my quarters, Ensign. Thank you,” Harper replied. She closed out her PADD and placed it on the desk in front of her. She wasn’t sure what to expect but she sat up straighter and adjusted her uniform to near perfection before seeing Captain Theo Barrington appear on her screen in front of her.

Theo looked up as the screen resolved to show an image of a younger captain.

“Good morning, Captain.” He smiled, relieved that this call, at least, was going to be significantly easier than his last one. “I apologize for interrupting your celebrations.”

“No apologies necessary, Captain. I have already wrapped up my celebrations and retired away to handle some personal correspondence. My crew is still enjoying themselves though. I will let them have a few more hours if I can. They have earned it.” Captain Harper sat a little straighter as she felt the familiar sense of pride well up within her.

Barrington inclined his head. “So I hear. Well, I’ll get straight to it, Captain. I’d like to inform you that you and the Sausalito have been reassigned to Taskforce 47. Once you have wound up any loose ends with your current assignment, I would ask that you make your way to 47’s area of operations.”

He gave her a steady look and offered a small smile at the sounds that were filtering through the door. “Although, of course, after your crew has recovered from their night of celebration.”

Harper looks back over her shoulder and smiles. “Sure thing, Captain. We will make our way towards 47’s area of operation as soon as we wrap up celebrations this evening. I will notify the crew and I assure you that we will be ready for whatever comes next. Is there anything else that we may need to know in the meantime?”

“Not at present.” Barrington shook his head. “I will, of course, let you know if there are any developments you should be aware of. We’ll add you to the task force patrol rotation when you’re confirmed in the area. Safe travels, Captain.”

“Very well, Captain. We will notify you as soon as we have arrived into 47’s area. Thank you.” Harper watched as the communication ended and then started tidying up her desk. Once she finished, she left her Captain’s Quarters to make her way to the bridge. The helmsman needed to be notified that a course needed to be charted and the ship needed to depart as soon as possible. She stopped just outside the door to the bridge to take a moment for herself.

The call from the Captain and the reassignment came as a shock and she could feel a slight shake in her hands. She balled her right hand into a fist and brought it to her chest. She then took about five deep breaths with a long inhale and even longer exhale. When she finished the breathing exercise, she lowered her hand and watched. The shake was gone and she couldn’t help but smile. That was a trick her mother had shown her years ago when she was a child and she had never imagined it would still be useful. She shouldn’t be nervous due to her crew’s success in the last mission but it seems inevitable and she couldn’t stop herself. Harper took one more breath and then entered the bridge. She was confident that her crew would face this new change head on and excel!